Shoe-cleaning device.



' PATENTED APR. 16, 1907.

- .J; J-. POLT.

' SHOE CLEANING DEVICE. S APPLICATION FILED NOV. 23. 1906.

INVENTOR v 6 45? TORNEY v WITNESSES:

'JOHN J. POLT, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

' SHOE-CLEANING DEVICE.

850,396. Specification of Letters Patent. lr'atented April 16, 1907.

Application filed ovem r 23,1906. Serial No. 344.672.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. Pour, a citizen of the United States,residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Cleaning Devices;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention has reference to a brush to be placed on the floor at theentrance to a structure and is adapted to be. used in place of a scraperto removethe mud and dirt from the shoes of a person entering, and isarranged to rovide a surface on the bottom that has a rush and also sidemembers having horizontally-projecting bristles above the brush of thebottom portion, these side members being arranged to yield and having aspring action to return them to their normal position.

The invention is designed to provide the side members with brushportions or bristles that are cut away at one end to provide a widerspace between them and at the other end. to provide for the easyinsertion of the toe of a shoe or boot to force the side members apart.

A further object of the invention is to provide the bottom platesupporting the brush at the bottom witha series of perforations that aredesigned to allow dust or water swept from the shoes to pass downthrough the brush.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-*-Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device, and Fig. 2 is partly asection and. partly an elevation looking from one end.

The device is composed of a base-plate 10, which can be made ofanymaterial suitable for the purpose, but is preferably made of wood,and it is provided with a brush portion 11, having a horizontal topsurface. Secured near each edge of the base-plate 10 is a side member12, arranged, preferably, at a slight angle and each one being providedwith a brush portion 13, arranged approxi mately horizontally andprojecting over the brush portion 11 on the bottom plate. To preventlongitudinal motion of the side pieces 12, they are secured by means ofthe links 14,0ne end of each link being pivoted to the end of the sideplate 12 and the other end being pivoted to the end of the baseplate 10.To cause the side members 12 to assume a position shown in the drawings,a spring member is provided to force the side members toward oneanother, and this may be of any suitable construction; but I prefer tomake it as shown in the drawings, in which a single piece of wire isbent to form a straight longitudinally-lying portion 15 and. bent ateach end into a member 16, approximately at a right angle to the member15, and the ends of the wire are then bent into the coils 17 andfinished off to project downward to the ointed end 18 and be driven inthe wooden base-plate 10, as shown more particularly in Fig. 2.

are cut away at one end to form a much wider distance between theopposed bristles, as shown in Fig. 1, on the end of the brush nearestthe observer, this end thus forming somewhat of an entrance orwedge-shaped conformation, so that the toe of a boot or shoe can beforced forward to spread the side members apart, as the bristles on thisend are normally separated by a considerable distance.

When shoes are being scraped, the dust or mud will fall between thebristles composing thebrush 11, and to allow it to pass on down withoutclogging the bristles I provide the base-plate 10 with a series ofperforations 1.9, arranged, preferably, between the groups of bristlesboth longitudinally and transversely.

held against any longitudinal movement and and furnish a fairly strongpressure against the shoe by reason of the springs on either side of theside members.

The device can be fastened to the floor by screws passingdown throughsome of the perforations 19, or other means can be employed forfastening the device permanently to the floor. The links 14 can have theend that is secured to the base portion 10 secured at any convenientpoint at the end of the base portionthat is, the links can inclineeither inwardly or outwardly from the pivotal point on the side member.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. An article ofthe kind described com- The side members in this structure are thus 1The brush portions 13 of the side members are also normally kept inacompact shape IIO to project across and above the brush portion of thebase-plate, springs arranged on the base-plate and in sliding relationwith the outside of the side members, and links on the ends of thebase-plate connecting the baseplate with the side members.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this21st day of November, 1906.

JOHN J. POLT. WVitnesses I WM. H. CAMFIELD, E. A. PELL.

